A sometimes accurate account of living in Tainan. 一応台南で生活するについてのブログ。隨便寫的臺南部落格。

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Iyo Shichifukujin/伊予七福神/伊予七福神

Well, I made another trip to Japan recently. I went back to Ehime, where I went last year in September. Once again, I was back right around the Autumnal Equinox.

去年と同じく、今年もちょうど秋分辺りに愛媛に行って来た。

跟去年一樣，我今年也去日本。時期也是跟去年一樣秋分。

BURNING BLOOD

血在燒嗎？

The Cosmos flowers were in bloom. They're very beautiful flowers, aren't they?

コスモスの季節だった。

秋英屬的花朵。

Did you notice the title of this post? What's a "Shichifukujin"? What's an "Iyo"? Well, "Iyo" is the old name of the domain?/fiefdom? (I'm not sure what English word to use to describe Japan's pre-modern administrative units) that occupied the area where modern-day Ehime is. The name Iyo is still seen quite frequently in Ehime. For instance, it is the name of the private (as in non-JR) railway line that runs through much of the prefecture.

As for "Shichifukujin", this means "Seven Gods of Luck". Japan has many gods, but for some reason, at some point in history, these seven gods became associated with each other and started being displayed as a group, riding their communal treasure ship. Originally, these seven gods were not necessarily related--their countries of origin are not even the same--but they have become a unit and in areas where their respective temples are located close together, you sometimes will hear them referred to as "[place name] Shichifukujin".

On this trip, we decided to go around to the seven temples of the Iyo Shichifukujin. Not because I'm particularly religious, but just because I like the Shichifukujin and it's fun to do trips like this where you have a goal to accomplish.

The first one we went to was a Jodoin Temple for Fukurokuju. Fukurokuju is one of the two old men in the group. He is a god of long life. He's depicted as having an extremely long forehead. He's originally a Chinese, Taoist god.

The higan flowers (Red Magic Lily!) were also in full bloom. I love these flowers. You can see them all over Japan--especially near rice fields--but only around the Autumnal Equinox when they are in bloom.

ちょうど私が大好きな彼岸花の季節だった。

因為剛好是秋分，所以有很多石蒜。在日本，秋分也叫做「彼岸」。（跟佛教有關係但是我不太熟。）所以石蒜叫做「彼岸花」。

The temple was surrounded by rice fields and higan flowers.

A small Jizo statue. Jizo is a god who protects children and travelers. Because his statues are often at roadsides, out in the cold, people make little hats and coats for the statues to keep them warm.

地蔵さんが入り口に座っていた。

叫名「地藏」的神佛。祂保護旅人，所以平常坐在路邊。因為外面會很冷，所以有人送給祂的石像衣服和帽子。

A board telling us that this is one of the Iyo Shichifukujin temples.

Here's Fukurokuju.
福禄寿。長寿の神とされている。なぜか額がすごく長い。福禄寿は元々中国の道教の神だった。
福祿壽

The next temple we went to was Monjuin, which features Bishamonten. Bishamonten is often portrayed as a flashy looking young guy with armor. He's a god of warriors and "righteousness" apparently. His origins are in India, and he was originally a Hindu god.

A "tengu". Tengus are long-nosed goblin-like creatures who live in the mountains, are part-bird, and very good at swordsmanship. They are sometimes portrayed as tricksters, but sometimes they help people, and sometimes they are even associated with buddhist ascetics.

天狗。日本的天狗不是狗，是樣子像似鳥的妖怪。雖然祂們有時候騙人，但是有時候也幫人的忙。有時也算是跟佛教有關係的妖怪。

This temple is also one of the 88 on the Shikoku pilgrimage. This tired-looking boy informs us that this temple is number 9 on the route.

Here we see Ebisu and Daikokuten (and for some reason, Togepi) also members of the Seven Gods of Luck. (Togepi, however, is not one of the Seven Gods of Luck.)
恵比寿と大黒天の石像もあった。なぜかトゲピーもある。
下一片有另外兩個七福神：「大黑天」和「惠比壽」。還有波克比。（為何！？）

*mrowr*
ニャー

More Jizo statues
遍路さんがたくさん通っている地域だから、旅中の人を守ってくれる地蔵さんも多い。
這裡也有地藏石像。

Up until last year or so, the entirety of Shikoku had not one single 7-11. This is incredible given how many there are in the Tokyo area. The chain finally made a push to enter Shikoku recently, and below we have a photo of an Ehime native, weeping with joy and photographing the marvel that was previously denied to her and her fellow Ehimenians.